Default from family member

DRMANTISTOBOGGAN

Hello.
Looking for some advice. I have an irresponsible mother who has ruined her own credit rating over the years and whilst I was away at university applied for a store credit card in my name and subsequently defaulted on the payments.
I only noticed by the time it was too late and settled the debt immediately but by then it had already been passed to a debt collection agency who have marked it as a default (Gothia or Redcastle).
I was hoping to buy a house this year with my partner but after doing some research on credit ratings I'm led to believe this will be near impossible with the default and a low credit rating due to not having much else on my credit file (I have a loan repayment for a car that has never had a late or missed payment in 3+ years and a mobile phone payment but no credit cards etc).
What I was wondering was is there any precedent for some kind of transfer of the default from my file to my mothers? I'm not looking for responses suggesting I file charges for identity fraud and have her arrested, she's still my mother and would be open to moving the default. Maybe just something where the default gets to its rightful owner?
It's now nearly 21 months old and was only for £80. If not can anyone with prior experience suggest if getting a mortgage with a high street lender is possible with a default?
Partner has a perfect credit rating and we have a good income/debt ratio for the houses we're looking at.
Cheers

fermi

Most creditors would not even consider transferring things unless there is verified, reported and documented evidence of the ID fraud.

I have a vague recollection of someone allegedly managing it for a catalogue type debt, but think that was a rare exception.

DRMANTISTOBOGGAN

Thanks for the reply.
Are you suggesting that the person who actually committed the fraud accepting it wouldn't be enough?

Westminster

I strongly suspect you will have to go official to even have a chance of removing the default - which means reporting it as fraud and opening your mum to formal prosecution.

Its not going to be as 'easy' as getting someone else to take the heat for speeding points on your licence for example.

Candyapple

It doesn't matter whether your mum admits to the fraud and asking to move the default onto her name, the only way the default will come off your credit files is in 6 years time after the initial date or if you went to the police and then contacted the card company. Since you don't want to do the latter, you will have to just live with it I'm afraid. Look at it this way though, you'll have x-amount of years whilst the default is in place to save up more money for a house deposit because no high st lender will touch you, if you were lucky and did manage to obtain a mortgage it would be at much higher rates usually with subprime lender. You would need to speak to a mortgage advisor about your options.

Also, if you contacted the card company and told them what happened but said you didn't want the police involved, they would also likely place a CIFAS fraud marker against you in which case say goodbye to ANY credit for 6 years and even possibly your existing bank accounts being closed because of it.

There is no transference of debt/default into someone else's name, even if they admit it. It's called fraud for a reason. Hence why it's police involvement for the crime reference number and then the card company will take criminal action proceedings against the culprit.

fermi

DRMANTISTOBOGGAN wrote: »

Are you suggesting that the person who actually committed the fraud accepting it wouldn't be enough?

Correct. When people have tried this before, the usual response from the company is that unless reported and investigated officially they simply do not believe you or them.

You can try it. You never know.

herbgardinia

Hello -

Sorry, sounds like a frustrating situation.

Probably the best person to ask would be a broker - not about the transfer of default - but the chances of obtaining a mortgage on the high street or one with interest rates that aren't awful with a satisfied default for a small amount on your file.

It goes on a lot of other factors besides the default. Income/debt/circumstances. For example, I was approved by the Halifax for a 95% HTB mortgage with a £210 satisfied default (3 years old) on my file (and that one was my fault, through carelessness). However, my mortgage is only 2 x my income, I have a good wage, and have been good in my dealings with credit apart from the default.

You don't know until you ask. I'm not a mortgage advisor but if the default was settled fairly quickly, is for a small amount, the mortgage is joint - thereby mitigating the risk of lending to you alone, there might be options especially as the default gets older. Worth asking, anyway, good luck.

herbgardinia

Oh, and apply for a credit card you're likely to get (Vanquis, Aqua) and manage its low credit limit very well for a few months.

tiger_eyes

From the company's perspective, there's no reason to think you didn't run up the default yourself and now that it's mortgage time, you've found a family member to palm off the default on.

takman

A friend of mine had the exact same situation with her mother. I helped her out and contacted the company immediately and told them by letter. They replied asking for proof and I sent a copy of her tenancy agreement showing she didn't live at her mother's address. They replied saying it was wiped off her credit file and they would investigate. But her mother never paid it.

But I think in your case you made a mistake by paying it because I can't see them ever believing you after this long after you paid it.